Sexual assault case against TN IG shifted to Telangana

Madras High Court on Wednesday transferred to Telangana the probe in the sexual harassment case filed by a woman SP against a senior Tamil Nadu police officer in the rank of Inspector General of Police.

A division bench of Justices Vineeth Kothari and C V Karthikeyan ordered that the case be transferred to Telangana. The judges ruled that Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary will send the files relating to the case to his Telangana counterpart who in turn will pass them onto the Director General of Police (DGP) for investigation.

The court order came despite objections from the Tamil Nadu government. The court said the Telangana DGP should depute a senior woman officer to probe into the incident and submit a detailed report within six months.

The order came on a request for transfer of the case to enable impartial investigation, by the petitioner, the woman SP who has alleged harassment by a superior officer.

She had alleged that the agencies investigating the case did not comply with the direction by Justice SM Subramaniam to reconstitute the Sexual Harassment Committee and conduct a fair probe.

The woman officer had alleged that the IG-rank officer, S Murugan, had subjected her to sexual harassment when she was working under him in the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). The IG-rank officer is working as the Joint Director of DVAC.

Though the DVAC constituted an Internal Complaints Committee to probe allegations against Murugadgpn in accordance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the woman IPS officer had moved the Madras High Court last year seeking criminal action against him.